


Sanguine

by im_the_king_of_the_ocean



Series: RWBY Rarepair Week 2k19 [3]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Monster Hunters, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Not Canon Compliant, Slow Romance, monster hunter!pyrrha, vampire!ruby rose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 06:21:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20652602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/im_the_king_of_the_ocean/pseuds/im_the_king_of_the_ocean
Summary: Pyrrha is a monster hunter, perhaps one of the best in all Remnant.  It's not hard for her to catch the infamous Vampire of Patch.  However, she does have some trouble letting the vampire, Ruby, go.





	Sanguine

“This isn’t fair.I don’t even eat people!”The Vampire paces around her cage.Her silver eyes stay locked onto Pyrrha.

Pyrrha resists the urge to grab Miló, her javelin, and throw it at the creature she spent the past three weeks hunting down.

The infamous Vampire of Patch has done nothing but complain since their arrival back at her base of operations.Pyrrha would have gagged the Vampire, but her glinting, pointy, front incisors keep the Huntress at a distance.Detoxing from vampire venom is a pain Pyrrha really doesn’t want to deal with right now.

“You drink blood, don’t you?”Pyrrha snaps back.Better to keep the Vampire’s thoughts occupied than plotting ways to escape, anyway.

The Vampire stops pacing.She glowers.“Because I need it to to _survive_.You wouldn’t withhold food from yourself, would you?”

“I don’t take my food from innocent people,”Pyrrha says.She turns on her computer.She doesn’t need to keep her full attention on her captive.The Vampire isn’t the first quarry Pyrrha has kept locked up here for a time.Pyrrha’s one of the best Huntresses in the monster-hunting business, after all.

The Vampire sits down cross-legged by the bars of her cage.“The animals you humans hunt aren’t innocent?”She cocks her head in what could have been a curious gesture if Pyrrha doesn’t already know it’s a feigned act.Grizzlier monsters then the Vampire have tried to gain her sympathies before, and (almost) all failed.

“That’s different,”Pyrrha states offhandedly as she opens her emailing service and begins typing up a report to send in to Headquarters.The sooner she’s paid and this talkative, little imp sent off to meet her doom, the better.

“How?They don’t want you to kill them, but you still do!”The Vampire retorts.“At least I don’t _kill _anyone!”

Pyrrha snorts.“You expect me to believe you’ve never ‘accidentally’ killed anyone while sucking out their blood?”

“No!Because I don’t _do_ that!”The Vampire seems insulted.She jumps up and begins pacing again.She gesticulates wildly with her arms as she talks.“I go to _hospitals_ and they _give_ me blood!The only time I _drink_ from actual people is when they already have poison or a toxin or something in their blood and it’s killing them!Those don’t affect me like they do you humans, so I can get them out of their systems faster and safer.That’s how I pay for what the hospitals give me.I _save _lives!”

“Uh-huh.”Pyrrha pulls her headphones on over her ears and puts on some loud music.A part of her does want to believe the Vampire.She likes to think the world is full of kindness.Truly, Pyrrha does.But she also knows what happens what she lets her guard down for even a second.She’s not going to make that mistake again.Not when it could lead to another (too high) body count.

The Collectors, those who come to take the monsters Pyrrha catches away for disposal, are busy with a job up north.They’ll be down in two days to pay her and take the Vampire off her hands.The head of the Guild, Salem, as always, thanks Pyrrha for her service.Pyrrha sends off a quick reply, and then shuts down her computer (it’s too costly to let it run all the time).She glances back at the Vampire.

Since she no longer has Pyrrha’s attention, the Vampire has taken to entertaining herself.She’s lying on her back in the center of the cage, holding up two pebbles she must have found on the ground somewhere.Pyrrha makes a mental note to keep the holding area cleaner in the future.The Vampire makes the pebbles ‘attack’ each other by slamming them together.She makes _pew, pew _noises with her mouth as she does.It would be a human, if a bit childish, action, if the Vampire weren’t actually a destructive monster.

Pyrrha turns away.Again, she can’t afford to let her guard down.She goes to her kitchenette and starts putting a small dinner together.The noises of Pyrrha’s pots and pans clanging together and the sizzling of heated butter gets the Vampire’s attention.She rolls over on her stomach, rests her head on her propped up hand, and watches Pyrrha.

“Oooh, what are we having for dinner?”The Vampire’s tone is a bit happier, a bit more upbeat now than before.

Pyrrha responds, “_I’m_ having stir fry._You_ aren’t having anything.”

“But I’m _huuungry,_” The Vampire whines.“It doesn’t even have to be blood.I eat other stuff too.Like cookies.”Her expression turns excited.“Do you have any cookies?”

“You...eat cookies?”Pyrrha approaches the Vampire.That’s unexpected.And probably a lie.

“Yeah my dad used to make them for me all the time.”The Vampire’s shoulders sag.“Well, he did.”She turns away from Pyrrha.“He’s a really nice human.That’s why I don’t think you’re entirely bad.Maybe you’re scared or hurt.He was too, in the beginning.But then he got to know me, and he changed his mind.”

Pyrrha crosses her arms.“Let me guess, he’s dead now?There was an ‘accident’?”

“No.”The Vampire shakes her head.Her short, red-tipped black hair flies around her head.“I ran away so he _wouldn’t_.”She takes a deep breath.“Everyone was always so scared of me.I didn’t want them to hurt him too.”

“That’s a nice story.”Pyrrha returns to prepping her dinner.She checks her cupboards and finds all the necessities for chocolate-chip cookies.She has everything she needs.Pyrrha takes the ingredients out, but makes sure the Vampire can’t see them.She hasn’t completely made up her mind on that yet.

“What’s it going to take to convince you that I’m not dangerous?”The Vampire speaks the words as a half-grumble.

Pyrrha goes over to the cage.She squats down next to where the Vampire is.“Nothing.Ever.Will.” she talks down to her.“The last time I did that, someone I cared about very much died.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”The Vampire pauses.“But that still doesn’t give you the right to kill me.”

Pyrrha sighs.A part of her _does_ agree with the Vampire.“Look, I’ll make you a batch of cookies.”She acquiesces to doing that much.Her eyes sweep over the holding cage.“And, since you’ll be here for a few days, I’ll get you some pillows and a blanket, but that’s _it_.I can’t allow you to go free.Someone will wind up dead.I will _not _allow that to happen.”

“Hmm…well, what if I just stay here with you?”The Vampire asks.“You can keep an eye on me.No one gets hurt either._And _I’ve been looking for a new place to stay.”

“You do understand, I _hunt _monsters.”

“I know.”The Vampire grins.“But, you’re not one of the evil ones.”She holds out a hand between the bars of the cage.“My name’s Ruby.”

Pyrrha sighs.“Pyrrha Nikos.”The Va—_Ruby’s _hand is unusually cool to the touch, but still soft like a human hand.

On the one hand, Pyrrha thinks she’s making a mistake.On the other, it’s only for two days really, and it _does _feel like a burden that’s been weighing on her has lightened just a little bit.


End file.
